The 49ers apparently grew wary of Deebo Samuel a while ago, and they may be feeling that way about Brandon Aiyuk, per one revealing report.
One of the tougher things the San Francisco 49ers will have to admit entering 2025 is they're no longer the same team contending for NFC Championship games on a per-year basis.
The dreadful 6-11 campaign in 2024 revealed that.
Change is afoot, highlighted most notably by wide receiver Deebo Samuel's trade request and subsequent reports of the Niners being more than willing to move on from the 2021 All-Pro, too.
Samuel's impending departure isn't just the only source of frustration and resentment, however. According to the SF Standard's Tim Kawakami, San Francisco still feels frustration over how fellow wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk handled his own contractual concerns an offseason ago.
And those two receivers only paint a portion of the greater picture.
49ers reportedly regret how they handled Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk dilemmas
Kawakami's insight into how the 49ers front office feels about the two prolific receivers is pretty damming.
Specific to Samuel, whose only ally in the front office might have been head coach Kyle Shanahan, Kawakami indicated the two sides have zero reservations about moving on from each other after a frustrating 2024 campaign:
"What I’ve heard from people who have talked to the 49ers over the last few weeks is consistent: Deebo was 20 pounds overweight at times last season, which at least partially led to his dramatic drop in production and sure doesn’t indicate that he’s still in his prime at 29. Meanwhile, Deebo clearly was frustrated during the season, saying on social media that he wasn’t getting enough chances to make plays. That frustration has not lessened."
But the extent of the frustration goes beyond last season. It also includes the tenuous standoff between Samuel and San Francisco that led to his first trade request during the 2022 offseason, followed by an eventual contract agreement.
One that reportedly still generates regret.
Likewise, there apparently is still regret with the 49ers caving into Aiyuk's own controversial extension talks an offseason ago, which also seems to have left a sour taste in the Niners' mouths.
More from Kawakami:
"I think there’s regret among some in 49ers management that Deebo wasn’t traded during his tense negotiations three years ago instead of landing the extension the 49ers now will exit a year early — with the resulting salary-cap penalties. There’s probably even more regret that Deebo wasn’t traded last spring.
Also, I know that there’s still frustration about the way Brandon Aiyuk handled his bitter negotiations last summer and that members of the front office were never thrilled about giving him a $30-million-a-year deal on the eve of the regular season."
Kawakami also included the tense standoff with All-Pro defensive end Nick Bosa entering 2023, which resulted in the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year becoming the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history on the eve of the regular season.
Doing so made sense at the time. The Niners' Super Bowl window was wide open, especially while quarterback Brock Purdy was playing on the most affordable contract possible from players drafted in 2022.
With no Super Bowl trophy to boast of, San Francisco can and should regret how it handled both Samuel and Aiyuk's situations. Perhaps Bosa's, too.
And it might have a massive impact on the 49ers' contractual philosophy going forward.
49ers likely to change their philosophy on star player contracts
Prior to Samuel's 2022 standoff, the Niners had historically been shrewd in contract negotiations, rarely caving to players' demands amid talks. The 2020 trade of Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, a team captain and fan-favorite, epitomized this after he and San Francisco couldn't come to terms on what would have been a lucrative extension.
Now, at least according to Kawakami, the 49ers appear as if they want to revert back to that kind of mindset:
"Think of Deebo Samuel’s inevitable departure from the 49ers — which will almost certainly happen in a matter of weeks — as the first concrete evidence of a different kind of attitude around team HQ heading into the most meaningful parts of the 2025 offseason.
It’s harder-edged. It’s a little more ruthless on the financial side. It’s a lot less forgiving on the performance side. It’s part course correction, going into the ninth season of the Kyle Shanahan/John Lynch era, and part full-speed preparation for the next stage — into the 2025 regular season and probably for years beyond that."
This also extends to performance slumps, attitude and a variety of other factors that'll go into whether or not players stay within the building.
It also means a shift in leadership within the locker room. As Kawakami cited, linebacker Fred Warner and tight end George Kittle are veteran pillars with the biggest presence, but Shanahan called upon Purdy and cornerback Deommodore Lenoir late last season to take on a bigger role in this area.
That's another shift.
Now, how this new hardline approach impacts Purdy's own contract-extension talks is anyone's guess, but it wouldn't be too shocking if the Niners bend one last time because of the position's glaring importance.
Elsewhere, though, it sure seems as if they won't be anywhere near as tolerant.
